by Olivia Devon
“That heater wasn’t broken!” Jinx said.
“Nope.” Aiko shook her head, and then winked. “Not even a little.”
“Aiko!” Jinx began but her Father drew her arm tighter into his and shushed them.
“You two. Stop now. It’s time,” he said.
“Yes Daddy,” they replied in unison as the music changed and the guests quieted.
“By the way,” Aiko whispered, turning around briefly. “You’re welcome.”
“Brat,” Jinx hissed.
“Always.”
“But thank you,” she said.
“No need.”
“I love you Aiko.”
“Love you too, sis.”
“Hush,” said their Father again. The music swelled, and Aiko stepped forward into the aisle.
Chapter Eight
The Ceremony
Jinx watched her sister get halfway down the aisle, turn back, stick two fingers in her mouth, and whistle loudly. Behind her, Malcolm opened a narrow door on the side of the house. As soon as the door was halfway open, all four of her precious dogs came barreling out at lightning speed, each of them dressed in adorable bright blue tuxedos. Well, lightning speed for three of them, Clyde brought up the rear with a slow and steady squeak.
The dogs where clearly on a mission and well-trained in their objective. They filed into a line behind Aiko and followed her up the aisle, only breaking formation occasionally to weave towards a guest they recognized for a friendly lick and a pat on the head. Clyde squeaked around Jinx and her father, lifted his head quickly to grin at her and then followed his brothers up the aisle. It was then that Jinx noticed the basket. Someone had taken advantage of Clyde’s wheels and attached a basket of rose petals to the back. With each step Clyde took, petals sprayed up from the basket and cascaded onto the processional aisle.
“Holy shit,” Jinx whispered to her father. “Did Aiko teach them to do that?”
He laughed quietly and patted her hand. “As I understand, it was a group effort. She, Malcolm, and Wyatt were all in on it.”
“That’s what they do at work all day?”
“It would appear so, yes.”
Clyde got a wheel hung up, struggled for a moment, grunted and strained until he lurched forward and a huge puff of petals propelled into the air. He looked back at Jinx with the most enormous dorky grin, turned, and ran forward to Wyatt.
“Buddy!” Wyatt hissed and waved his hand towards the side of the altar. “That way, go that way, with the other guys.”
The guests laughed and Clyde barreled on, the basket falling from his back wheels and tumbling to the ground as he struggled up the few short steps to the altar platform.
Wyatt glanced up, caught Jinx’s eye, and shot her a sheepish grin. The expression in his eyes said He wants up. Okay with you?
Jinx grinned back and nodded.
Wyatt picked up Clyde and gave him some head scritches. “Let’s hear it for the flower boy everyone!” he said, and the guests clapped enthusiastically.
Finally, with the dogs settled and laughter dying, the orchestra took their cue and began the wedding march. Jinx and her father began the slow walk down the aisle, a moment she’d dreamed about since she was a little girl. It felt overwhelming now, and strangely impersonal, all these people here, some she knew well and many she didn’t, all watching her in something that felt so intimate. It was odd, she’d been naked and bound on a stage in front of hundreds of people, and she’d never felt so exposed then as she did now. Her steps faltered, and her Father caught her, strengthened his hold on her arm and whispered, “Only you two matter. Just focus on Wyatt, and you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks Daddy,” she whispered back, and set her gaze on Wyatt. His hair was curling under his ears. It needed cutting, and it looked like he’d only towel dried it. Probably forgot to brush it again. Clyde wiggled in his arms, nuzzled against his collar and licked Wyatt’s chin a few times, vying for attention. But with each step forward Wyatt’s eyes only grew larger, bluer, and more intent on hers. His gaze never wavered, and his grin only widened and grew more eager. By the time she reached the altar he was halfway down the steps, ready to claim her.
Jinx turned and kissed her father goodbye, and when she turned back around, there was Wyatt, Clyde wiggling happily in one arm, his other snaking around her waist to pull her in for a long kiss.
There were a few gasps, some laughter, and finally someone started a round of applause.
“For crying out loud, Calvert.” Bryce said. “There’s an order to this stuff, you know. You’re not supposed to do that until after we say all the words and do the rings and–”
Wyatt broke the kiss and grinned at their audience. “Whoops, my bad.”
He led Jinx up the stairs, and they settled into their spots on either side of Bryce.
“Jeez.” Bryce looked at Wyatt and frowned. “Honestly. You’ve totally ruined the vibe now, man. How am I supposed to follow that?”
“Just carry on.” Wyatt waved for him to continue.
“Fine.” Bryce cleared his throat, held up an index card up and began speaking.
“There’s a defining moment that comes for many of us. It’s a moment that divides our life and our memory. Everything prior to this moment becomes our before, and post it, our after. For those of us that are truly fortunate, that moment–”
Wyatt snorted, shoved a fist to his mouth and started laughing.
Bryce glared at him. “Something funny?” He said.
“Just….” He laughed again, and then Jack started, too, choking so hard on giggles that he fell into Wyatt and had to grab his arm to steady himself.
Jinx turned to Aiko and raised an eyebrow. Aiko produced her phone, tapped a few buttons, stared at the screen a moment, and started laughing too.
“What?” Jinx whispered, and Aiko leaned over, showing her the search result on the screen.
The Moment - Bryce Harrington - Google Books
books.google.com › Fiction › Suspense
"There’s a defining moment that comes, for many of us. It’s a moment that divides our life, and our memory.” After his life is changed forever by a tragic event, Dr. William McPherson…
“Oh my god.” It was Jinx’s turn to laugh.
“Alright.” Bryce scrubbed a hand over his face and then pushed past his laughing friends, stepping forward to address the guests directly. “I guess a bestselling author can’t get away with plagiarizing himself at a friend’s wedding. In my defense I would like you good people to know that I was only tasked with the assignment of marrying these two yesterday. I’ve had very little time to prepare.”
“It’s not just that.” Wyatt burst out laughing again. “It’s not just that you plagiarized yourself,” he said coughing. “It’s that you needed index cards to do it!”
“Hey!” Bryce said, walking back up the altar. “I’ll have you know I became an official member of the Church of the Everlasting Space Octopi in order to do this for you, buddy, so a little bit of gratitude would be appropriate.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Wyatt sighed and wiped at his eyes. “Sorry, carry on.”
“Wait, do you two have vows?” Bryce asked. “I sure hope so, because I’ve got nothing.”
Jinx’s eyes grew wide, and she looked at Wyatt, panic-stricken. “I knew we forgot something!” she whispered.
“No biggie.” He whispered back, then winked at her and shook his head at Bryce. “Skip the vows, go for the super short version.”
“Alright then, short it is. Got rings?”
Jack pushed forward, reached around Wyatt, and dug into a little pocket on Clyde’s tuxedo. Clyde began licking Jack’s hand furiously, and Wyatt had to intercede so that he could finally get the rings and hand them to Bryce.
“Great. Well then.” Bryce looked at Wyatt. “Do you?”
Wyatt grinned and nodded slowly. “Oh hell yeah.”
Bryce dropped a ring in Wyatt’s palm, then turned to Jin
x. “Do you?”
“Definitely,” she said with a smile.
“Great.” Bryce dropped the remaining ring in Jinx’s palm then shrugged at them. “Give each other your rings, I guess.”
Wyatt shoved Clyde at Bryce for containment. Then he grabbed Jinx’s hand and slid the ring on her finger, pulling her in for a kiss before she’d had time to react.
“Still not time,” said Bryce.
“Don’t care,” Wyatt said, and he held out his hand for Jinx so that she could slide on his ring. “Married!” he shouted as soon as it was on. Picking her up, he twirled her around and kissed her soundly to another round of jubilant applause from their guests.
“Well that’s that, I suppose,” said Bryce, setting Clyde to the ground. “If you will all join us in the pavilion, I promise the reception should be just as entertaining as this ceremony.”
They’d hung back a bit at the house to give their guests a chance to get to the pavilion first and settle in. It also gave the newlyweds time to visit with a few close friends, praise the dogs for a job well done (especially Clyde) and to enjoy their first few minutes together as husband and wife.
“I didn’t think you could possibly get any sexier to me,” Wyatt said, as they walked together towards the pavilion. “But wife Jinx is hotter than fiancée Jinx for sure.”
“Really?” She grinned up at him. “Good thing fiancée Jinx isn’t around to hear you say that.”
“Rawr baby,” he said ducking close to nibble under her jaw. She shoved him off with a laugh, but his hand kept sliding over her backside as they walked. “This dress is hot!” he said, breaking his stride so he could ogle her again. “That criss-cross lacing thing Tessa did in the back—. Woman’s either a genius or trying to kill me.”
“Like what you see, do you?” Jinx asked, batting her eyelashes innocently. She stopped walking, bent over, and wiggled her butt at him.
Wyatt’s eyes popped wide, and he grabbed her ass with both hands, pulling her hard against his hips. “I’m not gonna make it to tonight,” he growled.
A horn honked behind them and a car pulled up, a sporty little all-terrain with tinted windows. The car stopped, and Bryce, Aiko, Malcolm, and all four dogs climbed out.
“Oh hey!” said Jinx. “I was wondering where you guys went.”
“Last minute details,” said Malcolm. “Lissa was having trouble getting the cake from the house to the pavilion, so we drove it over.”
“Yeah, and then we saw you two getting ready to consummate in the freaking road, and we figured we’d better stop,” said Aiko.
“Here.” Bryce tossed Wyatt the keys as he walked around the front of the car. “We’ll walk. You take the car.”
“It’s not far,” Wyatt said gesturing to the tent that was now only a few hundred yards away. “We can walk too.”
“Numbnuts,” Aiko said, sighing. “He means you two can use the car to go crank out a quickie. Please, for all our sakes, do so. Or we’ll all be forced to watch you two suck face and make eyes all damn night.”
Jinx and Wyatt exchanged a glance.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” said Wyatt. “Come on babe, let’s go have married sex!”
Apparently, their friends had planned. When Wyatt and Jinx arrived back in her room, the bed was laid out with fluffed pillows and strewn with flower petals. There was soft music playing and about a thousand candles lit and arranged romantically all around the room.
“Hey,” Wyatt said, surveying the room. “How’d they know we’d come to your room? We could’ve gone to mine.”
Jinx narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve had the dogs with you the whole time we’ve been here. I bet that room smells like gym socks and dog farts.”
Wyatt opened his mouth to protest, snapped it shut, and nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He scrubbed his knuckles over his jaw and scanned her form. “Babe,” he said sweetly. “How attached to that dress are you?”
“Very,” she said, eyeing him cautiously. “Why do you ask?”
Wyatt kicked the bedroom door closed behind him, and stalked towards her, his eyebrows waggling suggestively.
“Because I really want to rip it off you.”
“Hey!” She stopped him with one finger against his chest. “There will be no ripping. This is my wedding dress you fiend, it has sentimental val–” She stopped talking, because he’d grabbed her hips, pulled her into him, and attacked her mouth with hedonistic abandon. He moaned against her lips. “Married kisses.” Wyatt pulled away and smacked his lips loudly. “Tasty.”
Jinx laughed and backed away from him, her hands fumbling for the knot of the laced ribbon at the back of her dress. Wyatt watched her intently. His gaze alert and heated, he took off his suit jacket, waistcoat, tie, and finally began to work on his shirt.
Meanwhile Jinx was still working at the knot.“Wy?” She said, her tone a little strained. “Um, it won’t come undone.”
Wyatt flicked open the top three buttons of his shirt and smiled when he saw Jinx bite her lip. “Like that huh? Ready for a little man-titty?”
“Man-titty?” Jinx grimaced at him. “You hang out with Aiko too much. And no, I’m saying I’m stuck in my dress. Help?” She twisted around so he could see the knot she was working on. “Oh man.” Wyatt whistled. “That’s um…yeah. I’ve got no time for that.”
Suddenly her dress sprang open, and Jinx realized with a gasp what he’d done. “You did not just CUT my wedding dress with your SEAL ring Wyatt Calvert!”
“You said the dress was sacred, you didn’t say anything about the laces.”
Jinx thought for a moment, then nodded. “Fair enough. Get me out of this thing, cowboy.”
Chapter Nine
They attacked each other.
Wyatt had her dress off in record time, and was happy to discover very little else would be in his way going forward, just a gauzy bit of panties that seemed to disintegrate the minute his magic husband hands pulled on ‘em.
Jinx ripped at his shirt and buttons went flying, but she got hung up when his shirt sleeves wouldn’t relent. Then they remembered the cuff links and took one solemn moment to remove them carefully and place them neatly on a side table. Then it was back to attacking.
Wyatt’s pants and boxer briefs puddled on the floor, and Jinx jumped him, wrapping her legs around his hips like she had earlier on the beach.
“I’m glad you made us wait,” she breathed against his lips. “This is special, worth waiting for.”
“So are you, babe. So are you.” Wyatt plunged his hands into her hair, dragging out bobby pins and tossing them over his shoulder. Jinx moved to remove the velvet flower she wore at her ear, but Wyatt stopped her hand. “No, it’s pretty,” he said, his palm circling her neck. “Leave it.” He brought her head to his and claimed her mouth, his tongue diving in to taste, explore, as if he thought the act of marriage might have changed them, might have revealed hidden wells inside them both they’d yet to uncover.
She gasped against his mouth, felt her body respond immediately, and damn if it didn’t feel the same, and yet…a little bit different too. Hidden wells indeed.
Wyatt moved to the bed, tossed her down with a laugh, and fell after her, caging her body with his own. He moved up, on knees and hands now, and leaned down for another deep kiss, his palms finding her breasts, kneading until her nipples beaded in response. She reached for him, her fingers wrapping around the steely length of his erection so tightly that he moaned into her mouth. She giggled, and Wyatt broke the kiss, pulled back with a sly grin.
“Think you’re cute huh? Trying to tease me? Well wife…what should I do with you?”
“Dunno...husband,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Kind of thought the plan was to fuck, married-like.”
“Mmm,” Wyatt turned his attention to her neck and brushed his lips over the soft skin just above her collar bone. “What’s married fucking like? Boring? Distracted? Over before the commercial break?”
/> Jinx squeezed his cock hard and Wyatt yelped. “Definitely not.” She growled and fisted her free hand in his curls, dragged his head up for another deep kiss, and arched her hips, guiding him toward her center. “This feel boring to you?” she asked, as the tip of his cock probed slick folds.
“Not even a little bit.” Wyatt sucked her earlobe into his mouth, bit down softly, and it was Jinx’s turn to yelp, and when she did, her hips arched at just the right angle for Wyatt to thrust home. Stroking deep, he slid his hands up her back to cup her shoulders as she writhed under him.
“Oh my god, married sex is so good,” she whispered, her head falling back into his his waiting palms.
“Whaddya think?” Wyatt said, his hips moving faster now, picking up the kind of rhythm he knew would have her skin pink and glistening in no time. “Think you could do this for another forty, fifty years?”
“How about a hundred, cowboy?” Cupping his face in her hands she kissed him sweetly, tears glistening in her eyes as her gaze found his, and she smiled. “I don’t think even a thousand would be enough.”
“Jun,” he said, sniffing as his eyes began to glisten too. “I’m trying to fuck here, kitten, and you’re getting me all emotional. Makes it hard for a guy to concentrate.”
“Aw, poor baby,” she said. Laughing, she wrapped her legs around his and clutched his body to hers, reveling in the feel of him, this beautiful man with the gentle strength and the biggest heart. “I’ll try not to distract you again,” she breathed in his ear, and then turned his own moves on him, sucking his earlobe between her teeth for a nibble.
Wyatt cursed, and she felt him grow harder, his teeth gnashing at her neck for retaliation. She clenched and bore down hard, tightening her core around his cock like a vice.
“Oh dear god,” he cried. “Commercial break. Oh fuck, babe, I’m so sorry, but you’re about to do me in.” Frantic, he reached between then, his thumb probing low until he found what he was looking for. He rubbed, soft circles that had her bucking against him just in time, so that they crashed together, a breathless heap on a bed of mashed rose petals.